Defending Champ Rajeev Ram To Return To Newport

Newport, U.S.A.

Rajeev Ram, who clinched both the Singles and the Doubles titles in Newport last year, will return to compete in the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships again this year. Ram, who is currently ranked No. 85 on the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, joins a dynamic Newport player field that features four of the top-10 Americans. In addition to Ram, early commitments scheduled to compete in Newport include No. 4 American Sam Querrey, No. 8 American Mardy Fish and No. 9 American Taylor Dent.

"Rajeev really put on a tremendous performance for the New England tennis fans last summer," said Mark Stenning, CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. "We look forward to welcoming him back this year as part of a strong field of top Americans."

In 2009, Ram entered the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships as a lucky loser as a last-minute replacement and went on to defeat No. 3 seed Sam Querrey in three sets. He then clinched the doubles title alongside Australian Jordan Kerr. Ram was the first lucky loser to win in the Newport tournament's history. He earned 250 South African Airways ATP Ranking points, which advanced his rank from No. 181 to No. 108. In October 2009, he broke into the top 100, where he has remained consistently since that time. In addition to his victories in Newport, Ram earned two other ATP World Tour Doubles titles last year, in Chennai (w/Butorac) and in Bangkok with the same partner.

The Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships is an ATP World Tour event drawing 32 top male players to Newport direct from Wimbledon to compete for the Van Alen Cup and $442,500 in prize money. Tickets for the tournament are now available for purchase online through www.tennisfame.com or by calling the Tournament Office at 866-914-FAME (3263).

Complementing another exciting week of ATP World Tour tennis will be the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Induction Ceremony. The Induction Ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 10 at 12:30 p.m., prior to the tournament's semifinal matches. The Class of 2010 is dominated by doubles stars in the Recent Player and Master Player categories, with the inductions of Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, Gigi Fernandez, Natasha Zvereva and Owen Davidson. In the Contributor category, Brad Parks, the pioneering founder of Wheelchair Tennis, has been selected for induction, along with Derek Hardwick, who served as chairman of the British Lawn Tennis Association and was instrumental in the creation of Open tennis.